Should have killed them off in the first half but as the game wore on we were pushed deeper and deeper until our midfield were colliding with our back four. On at least two occasions when clearances were attempted they rebounded from a Charlton player back into our penalty area. Fair play to Donny they could easily have salvaged something from this. As has been proved by Wigan, a better side with a little more composure up front would have beaten us. But, it's three points and as Derek Ufton said to us after the game, Arsenal once won the league with lots of 1-0 wins. Finger's crossed!
Made hard work of it. Our finishing was again wasteful. We are going to loose points to it this season.
As much as I have been pleasantly surprised by Fosu, he frustrates the hell out of me - holds the ball too long and his decision making is poor at times. Hopefully that will improve with experience.
Clarke was not at the races today and I would have taken him off 15 mins earlier.
Impressed with Konsa and am convinced he will be gone in January.
The major concern for me is how open we are down the flanks. Our fullbacks get exposed far too easily and I keep seeing crosses coming into the box unchallenged.
Quite liked Marquis. Was busy and can see how he has scored goals at this level.
Would rotate on Tuesday as IMO a few of ours were running on fumes at the end.
The main characteristic of the game was that it was yawningly tedious to watch. Pulse-quickening football, it ain't. We started brightly, yet after two early stoppages we never recovered our smooth momentum. We are still glacially slow at taking goal-kicks and free-kicks – all that arm-waving and men trooping from one side of the pitch to the other – which is dull to watch and does us no favours since we are at our best when playing at a high tempo. Slow play gives us too much time to dwell on the ball and make unforced errors, of which there were numerous today.
There were some exciting, probing dribbles from Fosu, who scored with a precise strike to embarrass the keeper at his near post, and from Holmes. But Holmes continues to be frustratingly wasteful; in the space of five minutes early in the second half, he muffed a corner straight to the first defender; sent a free-kick from just outside the box sailing out of play; and from open play on the left wildly over-hit a cross. Amos's distribution is dangerously wayward – his botched clearance near the end of the first half nearly cost us a goal – and Solly is prone to putting colleagues under pressure with hospital passes.
Plus points: Magennis won virtually all of the high balls, nodding down for an absent partner. In the second half he chased a defender to the corner flag, knocked him aside with a firm shoulder-charge, and came away with the ball. Bull of a man! Konsa and Bauer were steady, yet the midfield sat back too deeply in the closing period, causing overcrowding and some confusion in defence. If Donny had a greater attacking presence, our exposed full-back positions would have leaked chances for an equaliser.
For a stultifying period around the hour mark we were bogged down in a midfield morass of our own making: deadly dreary. The stats show that we had only 40 per cent of the possession. It felt as though more time was spent on interruptions than in actual play.
Did anyone get a clear view of the penalty shout when Fosu was tripped, late in the first half? From the Covered End it looked like a dead cert – yet the ref booked Fosu for diving!
The most inspired feature in the entire afternoon was the clever wording on a Women Against Roland banner, spotted in a photo in the new edition of Voice: DANCE ROLY? FOXTROT OSCAR!
Although we had many chances, I thought too it was disjointed. With Billy Clarke well out wide we lacked someone to hold up the ball. I guess it was to get Fosu more central but the three including Holmes kept switching. It made for an unsettled side.
Couldn't make it today. Seen mention of the crowd being awesome. Anyone know the official attendance?
Just over 10k home support officially, but pushed over by free tickets for groups of kids. Probably not dissimilar to the poor turnout for Bury in paying fans. Under 10k in the ground in reality.
Crowd was consistently noisy, however, which made for a very good atmosphere.
Watched the first half on iFollow but a power cut wiped out the second half completely for me, returning just as I got into bed!
Donny didn't deserve to go in behind at half time; they dominated after 15 minutes.
There are no replays on iFollow and I don't take commentary, as the sound's a little behind the play where I am. It was also running with several minutes delay. I immediately thought the Fosu incident was a penalty and their shout wasn't but that's probably bias!
First half comments alone: Jay Da Silva had a poor game, summed up by the dreadful foul for the booking. Fosu was all over the park and scored well, though the keeper should possibly have done better, and the unsung player in the side, JFC, had an excellent half, I thought. A couple of stray passes but broke up play several times and always seemed to be in the picture. Last time I watched iFollow I commented he was anonymous.
So, a fiver not so well spent but a good three points.
There are no replays on iFollow and I don't take commentary, as the sound's a little behind the play where I am.
You can replay last 10 seconds by clicking the circle thingy on the bottom left of the stream. You can do it more than once if you need more than 10 seconds. Open commentry in separate window and pause untill in synch. Cheers
Frustrating to watch skillful players like Holmes, Da Silva and Clarke misfire throughout the afternoon. However, pleased to see the workmen dig in and limit the industrious opposition from troubling Amos too much. A win is great, but could / should be beating teams like Doncaster at a canter.
Hope the insurance policy taken out by big Josh early in the second half will bring him a bit more 'luck' with future refereeing decisions this season.
There are no replays on iFollow and I don't take commentary, as the sound's a little behind the play where I am.
You can replay last 10 seconds by clicking the circle thingy on the bottom left of the stream. You can do it more than once if you need more than 10 seconds. Open commentry in separate window and pause untill in synch. Cheers
Echo this. Works well for me;
Create your own replays with the "back ten seconds" button
A weird game, certainly one of the longest I've ever seen. As others have said a win is a win, but we made hard work of it. After such a great start, we should have won easily, but in the end were lucky to get all three points as Doncaster could have snatched one at the death. Hope Clarke plays in the middle in future, out wide is not for him. He has been so good this season, so not sure why he was moved there, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. He was unlucky with the one that hit the post. It wasn't boring, but there should have been lots more goals, from both sides!
Dont know if anyone else feels like I do yet I hated when we brought Sarr on... Straight away the swap happened when Doncaster had a corner and I've always heard that its the worst time to make a substitution as the player coming on might not be sure who they're marking for a few moments and in that time, the opposition can score a goal etc.
Didnt help the fact that Sarr had such a good game against Fleetwood I was sitting there praying: "Dont blow it, dont blow it"...
Not everyone will have seen that Fleetwood performance so will still have the old views about him
Thought we made hard work of the win, we really need to improve on our finishing and be more clinical. This could easily have been one of the games where we should have won but didn't, TBH last season we'd have probably drawn or lost that.
We're going to come a cropper (and nearly did) with our continued play it out from the back regardless, don't know what went wrong from set plays, every corner and free kick pretty much was poorly delivered.
A few didn't have their best games, but we won, despite not being right at it, so thumbs up from me, tough one Tuesday,
Agree with all that’s been said. Cliches abound but “we’d have lost/drawn that last year”, “hard fought victory” and “winning whilst not at our best” pretty much sum it up for me. Thought we were the better of two pretty poor teams in the first half with a few of our stars so far this season having mares (da Silva, Billy, Holmes) with only Fosu providing attacking impetus with Josh bravely ploughing a lone furrow but with nothing coming off. Goal out of nothing and we should have pushed on but didn’t.
Second half a different game once the utterly incompetent referee had been dispatched. Glad he’s ok but what an absolute plum. Looked to me like he dropped his whistle and Josh cleared him out as he bent down to pick it up. The standard of refereeing is criminal in this league. Thought the second half was quite entertaining in a tense sort of way. If we’d got two I think we’d have got four or five but too many players off form and a strange decision to play an ineffective Billy out wide.
A win is a win. One that may we’ll prove important as the season goes on. Let’s see what Messrs Reeves and Marshall can add. The former didn’t impress on his cameo yesterday but proudly boasts a 100% pass completion record (one from one!).
Dont know if anyone else feels like I do yet I hated when we brought Sarr on... Straight away the swap happened when Doncaster had a corner and I've always heard that its the worst time to make a substitution as the player coming on might not be sure who they're marking for a few moments and in that time, the opposition can score a goal etc.
Didnt help the fact that Sarr had such a good game against Fleetwood I was sitting there praying: "Dont blow it, dont blow it"...
Not everyone will have seen that Fleetwood performance so will still have the old views about him
I thought taking of Da Silva the shortest player in our team and replacing him with Sarr the tallest player we have was a good decision, considering that Doncaster were pressing for an equaliser and trying to put crosses into our box.
Well I’m not sure about everyone else but I really enjoyed that yesterday and well worth the price I paid for the tickets
The game was eventful, it had almost everything and some of the attacking play was excellent along with a very good atmosphere. Of course defensively we do look fragile at times and Amos’ kicking is very poor, but a clean sheet will boost confidence and that’s important. We should’ve scored 3 or 4 with the chances we created, the Magennis and Clarke chance really sticks out.
First half I thought Forster-Caskey was excellent. Fosu took his goal well and is really causing defences problems in this league now he’s found form and confidence, he actually reminds me a bit of Zaha, that type of style. Magennis is the perfect striker we could have in this system with the attacking trio we will have behind him, he does so much work to allow them to do their thing, probably should’ve scored yesterday but his goal will come on Tuesday instead.
People will say about Clarke yesterday but we played a lopsided 4231 and rarely used the right side, he got asked to do a job and I thought he actually played a key role in the tactics Robinson used.
We need to be a bit more solid and stop giving possession away by kicking the ball out of play as often as we do, and we need to take the clear cut chances we are creating to make things more comfortable. I think things are starting to fall into place a bit more now though, especially with players coming back into the picture. We had a little blip and it’s now important we kick on and continue to pick up results. The next 3 away games are really big too, but it’s also important we continue one game at a time.
Robinson is the perfect manager for us at the moment. Well done to all and it’s great to see that togetherness within the group again.
Dont know if anyone else feels like I do yet I hated when we brought Sarr on... Straight away the swap happened when Doncaster had a corner and I've always heard that its the worst time to make a substitution as the player coming on might not be sure who they're marking for a few moments and in that time, the opposition can score a goal etc.
Didnt help the fact that Sarr had such a good game against Fleetwood I was sitting there praying: "Dont blow it, dont blow it"...
Not everyone will have seen that Fleetwood performance so will still have the old views about him
I thought taking of Da Silva the shortest player in our team and replacing him with Sarr the tallest player we have was a good decision, considering that Doncaster were pressing for an equaliser and trying to put crosses into our box.
Sarr is just massive! Certainly a contrast to Da Silva! Looks like he's a part of the team, not a kid from abroad, finding his way anymore. He will make mistakes this season lets hope people are as understanding with him as they would any other player.
Dont know if anyone else feels like I do yet I hated when we brought Sarr on... Straight away the swap happened when Doncaster had a corner and I've always heard that its the worst time to make a substitution as the player coming on might not be sure who they're marking for a few moments and in that time, the opposition can score a goal etc.
Didnt help the fact that Sarr had such a good game against Fleetwood I was sitting there praying: "Dont blow it, dont blow it"...
Not everyone will have seen that Fleetwood performance so will still have the old views about him
I didn’t see the Fleetwood performance but having been around the training ground a little bit, you can see his confidence is back and I am really pleased for him.
I do agree you should never be making a substitution when defending a corner but in yesterday’s situation, Robinson spoke with him extensively prior to coming on and we took off Dasilva so the height difference was obviously the reason for that specific timing.
Comments
As much as I have been pleasantly surprised by Fosu, he frustrates the hell out of me - holds the ball too long and his decision making is poor at times. Hopefully that will improve with experience.
Clarke was not at the races today and I would have taken him off 15 mins earlier.
Impressed with Konsa and am convinced he will be gone in January.
The major concern for me is how open we are down the flanks. Our fullbacks get exposed far too easily and I keep seeing crosses coming into the box unchallenged.
Quite liked Marquis. Was busy and can see how he has scored goals at this level.
Would rotate on Tuesday as IMO a few of ours were running on fumes at the end.
oh you meant....
Superb atmosphere in the North Upper and pleased to see King Robbo getting so well supported and getting results.
Think this is a big result for it. Ground out and held on for a deserved win.
Team looks well balanced and midfield look great going forward. That Fosu is some player.
Well done Charlton a great CAFC afternoon.
There were some exciting, probing dribbles from Fosu, who scored with a precise strike to embarrass the keeper at his near post, and from Holmes. But Holmes continues to be frustratingly wasteful; in the space of five minutes early in the second half, he muffed a corner straight to the first defender; sent a free-kick from just outside the box sailing out of play; and from open play on the left wildly over-hit a cross. Amos's distribution is dangerously wayward – his botched clearance near the end of the first half nearly cost us a goal – and Solly is prone to putting colleagues under pressure with hospital passes.
Plus points: Magennis won virtually all of the high balls, nodding down for an absent partner. In the second half he chased a defender to the corner flag, knocked him aside with a firm shoulder-charge, and came away with the ball. Bull of a man! Konsa and Bauer were steady, yet the midfield sat back too deeply in the closing period, causing overcrowding and some confusion in defence. If Donny had a greater attacking presence, our exposed full-back positions would have leaked chances for an equaliser.
For a stultifying period around the hour mark we were bogged down in a midfield morass of our own making: deadly dreary. The stats show that we had only 40 per cent of the possession. It felt as though more time was spent on interruptions than in actual play.
Did anyone get a clear view of the penalty shout when Fosu was tripped, late in the first half? From the Covered End it looked like a dead cert – yet the ref booked Fosu for diving!
The most inspired feature in the entire afternoon was the clever wording on a Women Against Roland banner, spotted in a photo in the new edition of Voice: DANCE ROLY? FOXTROT OSCAR!
Three welcomed points.
On we march !!!
Crowd was consistently noisy, however, which made for a very good atmosphere.
Donny didn't deserve to go in behind at half time; they dominated after 15 minutes.
There are no replays on iFollow and I don't take commentary, as the sound's a little behind the play where I am. It was also running with several minutes delay. I immediately thought the Fosu incident was a penalty and their shout wasn't but that's probably bias!
First half comments alone: Jay Da Silva had a poor game, summed up by the dreadful foul for the booking. Fosu was all over the park and scored well, though the keeper should possibly have done better, and the unsung player in the side, JFC, had an excellent half, I thought. A couple of stray passes but broke up play several times and always seemed to be in the picture. Last time I watched iFollow I commented he was anonymous.
So, a fiver not so well spent but a good three points.
Open commentry in separate window and pause untill in synch.
Cheers
Hope the insurance policy taken out by big Josh early in the second half will bring him a bit more 'luck' with future refereeing decisions this season.
Create your own replays with the "back ten seconds" button
Syncs audio using pause buttons
That was a fairly comfortable 1-0 win. Donny never really looked like scoring.
Sarr didn't have to make a single header after he came on. Donny saw him and didn't bang the ball in his direction.
Bauer was superb and Fosu would've caught the eye of the visiting scouts. Tremendous work by someone at the club to sign him.
Didnt help the fact that Sarr had such a good game against Fleetwood I was sitting there praying: "Dont blow it, dont blow it"...
Not everyone will have seen that Fleetwood performance so will still have the old views about him
We're going to come a cropper (and nearly did) with our continued play it out from the back regardless, don't know what went wrong from set plays, every corner and free kick pretty much was poorly delivered.
A few didn't have their best games, but we won, despite not being right at it, so thumbs up from me, tough one Tuesday,
Second half a different game once the utterly incompetent referee had been dispatched. Glad he’s ok but what an absolute plum. Looked to me like he dropped his whistle and Josh cleared him out as he bent down to pick it up. The standard of refereeing is criminal in this league. Thought the second half was quite entertaining in a tense sort of way. If we’d got two I think we’d have got four or five but too many players off form and a strange decision to play an ineffective Billy out wide.
A win is a win. One that may we’ll prove important as the season goes on. Let’s see what Messrs Reeves and Marshall can add. The former didn’t impress on his cameo yesterday but proudly boasts a 100% pass completion record (one from one!).
Great crowd noise yesterday. Constant backing.
The game was eventful, it had almost everything and some of the attacking play was excellent along with a very good atmosphere. Of course defensively we do look fragile at times and Amos’ kicking is very poor, but a clean sheet will boost confidence and that’s important. We should’ve scored 3 or 4 with the chances we created, the Magennis and Clarke chance really sticks out.
First half I thought Forster-Caskey was excellent. Fosu took his goal well and is really causing defences problems in this league now he’s found form and confidence, he actually reminds me a bit of Zaha, that type of style. Magennis is the perfect striker we could have in this system with the attacking trio we will have behind him, he does so much work to allow them to do their thing, probably should’ve scored yesterday but his goal will come on Tuesday instead.
People will say about Clarke yesterday but we played a lopsided 4231 and rarely used the right side, he got asked to do a job and I thought he actually played a key role in the tactics Robinson used.
We need to be a bit more solid and stop giving possession away by kicking the ball out of play as often as we do, and we need to take the clear cut chances we are creating to make things more comfortable. I think things are starting to fall into place a bit more now though, especially with players coming back into the picture. We had a little blip and it’s now important we kick on and continue to pick up results. The next 3 away games are really big too, but it’s also important we continue one game at a time.
Robinson is the perfect manager for us at the moment. Well done to all and it’s great to see that togetherness within the group again.
I do agree you should never be making a substitution when defending a corner but in yesterday’s situation, Robinson spoke with him extensively prior to coming on and we took off Dasilva so the height difference was obviously the reason for that specific timing.